Blade dispensing package



Dec. 29, 1953 J. MUROS BLADE DISPENSING PACKAGE Filled Dec. 29, 1947 Patented Dec. 29, 1953 BLADE DISPENSING PACKAGE Joseph Muros, Newtonville, Mass, assignor to The Gillette Company, a corporation of Delaware Application December 29, 1947, Serial No. 794,344

2 Claims. (01. 206-16) This invention relates to an improved razor blade pack comprising a plurality of safety razor blades combined with a flexible carrier strip which is folded upon itself to provide an improved blade holding and dispensing package. The invention is herein exemplified as embodied in a package of safety razor blades of a well known commercial type although it is not limited to that or to blades of any specific shape.

It is a general object of the invention to improve blade packaging methods and to provide an inexpensive blade dispensing package which will insure an exceedingly keen shaving edge of the blade against impairment from the time it leaves the manufacturer up to the time it is selooted by the user. It is also a general object of the invention to devise a razor blade pack so constructed and assembled that when opened, the several blades in the pack will be caused to spring or fan apart from one another into a position such that each blade may be more conveniently grasped and detached when desired.

In one aspect the present invention is a solution of the problem of satisfactorily dispensing individual unwrapped blades as distinguished from blades protected by individual packing or envelopes. The removal of a thin safety razor blade from an individual envelope is not only somewhat troublesome for the user but is likely to cause impairment of the shaving edge by accidental contact with the fold of the envelope. There is also involved some danger to the user from cutting.

The blade dispensing package of the invention avoids the difiiculties noted to a very great extent by detachably securing on a carrier strip a series of unwrapped blades located one above another. The carrier strip is folded over upon itself to form a sheath in which the unwrapped blades are received with the cutting edges on both sides of each blade being protectively encased between two opposing sheath surfaces which extend beyond these cutting edges. The sheath portion not only prevents the cutting edges from becom-' ing dulled but offers a unique dispensing unit from which a single blade may be detached by one hand while the sheath portion is held in the other hand, without danger of cutting.

Another outstanding feature consists in the blades being secured to the carrier strip in spacedapart stepped relation so that when the pack is opened the outer ends of the blades tend to spring apart from one another and project outwardly, with each blade being disposed with a free end normally spaced from the carrier and located freely in an unobstructed position where it may be conveniently reached by the operator or engaged or withdrawn by a part of a safety razor.

In another aspect the present invention con sists in a blade package for blades having well defined unsharpened end portions. Such blades are provided with corner notches which define in each end of the blade an elongated unsharpened end portion of reduced width as compared to the body of the blade. In packaging such blades, it is proposed to fasten the blades to the carrier strip in the stepped relation noted above, by strap fastening means such as staples which straddle the reduced end portions of a blade, thus frictionally retaining the blade in position upon its carrier. The staples have the further important function of serving as a spacing element for each two adjacent blades.

, It is further a novel characteristic of my improved razor blade pack that the thin flexible razor blades are bent or flexed against one another into longitudinally overlapping relation and are thus resiliently maintained in position when the pack is in a closed position. In this longitudinally overlapping position each staple lying transversely between adjacent blades constitutes a fulcrum point over which an uppermost blade is flexed and it follows that when the pack is opened the blades seek to revert to a straight formation and thus spring apart from one another or fan out in a very positive manner.

Still another desirable feature of the invention comprises a razor blade pack in which a carrier strip member is folded over upon itself to support a series of blades in selectively stepped relation so that the uppermost blade in the pack extends forwardly or outwardly from the fold vertex to the greatest extent with each successive underlying blade being stepped inwardly. By this arrangement, the uppermost blade can be easily grasped without the fingers coming into contact with the next underlying blade, and the danger of cutting is greatly reduced. These and other objects and novel features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of the pre-' ferred embodiment selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a carrier strip showing a series of razor blades fastened to one end of the strip; Fig. 2 is another perspective view showing the strip folded upon itself to provide the razor blade pack of the invention in a closed position;

Fig. 3 is another perspective View illustrating the razor blade pack with the cover open and the blades in a normally spaced-apart position;

Fig.4 is a. perspective view similar to Fig. 3 but viewed from a point at one side of the carrier strip; and

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional View of the razor blade pack further showing the cover and blades in an open position.

In the embodiment of the invention as illus trated, the carrier member comprises an elon 3 gated rectangular strip (Fig. 1) which may be of cardboard, fibre, plastic or any stiff but flexible material. The strip is preferably scored alon three spaced apart transverse lines of folding I0,

I2 and I 4, which define a blade supporting sec..

tion I6, intermediate body portions I8, I9 and a cover member 26.

Blades 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30, as shown in the illustrated package, are double-edged .and each is further formed with a longitudinal median slot 38 having spaced enlargements designed to fit the blade locating projections of safety razors in which the blades are to be used. Each blade has corner notches which define elongated unsharpened end portions as 32, reduced in width relative to the body of the blade and the outline of the end portions is emphasized by employing notches of reentrant contour.

Each blade is individually secured in unwrapped condition to the blade supporting section I8 by an individual staple 3 3 of round wire which is so shaped as to straddle the reduced end portion 32 of the blade and is clinched with its ends beneath the blade supporting section I6 as viewed in Fig. 1 and concealed between the two plies of this section. It will be observed that the blades are spaced along the supporting section I6 and are located in an inclined position so that one blade extends over another in stepped relation with the free ends of the blades projecting outwardly from the extremity of the blade holding section I6 as suggested in Fig. l.

The supporting section is herein shown as carrying five blades. In the position of the strip illustrated in Fig. 1, the first blade 39 of the series,

lies in contact with the surface of the supporting section I6. The second blade 28 rests upon the underlying staple of the first blade which thus furnishes this blade with a fulcrum aswell as holding blade 29 at an acute angle to the face of the carrier. lades 2E, 24 22 arecorrespondingly secured by individual staples and each blade, with the exception of blade 36, is thus fulcrumed upon the staple of an immediately underlying blade and at the same time supports a fulcrum for an immediately overlying blade.

With the blades thus attached, the supporting section I6 is doubled over upon itself along the transverse line of folding I9, making a two-ply member, and then again folded over in the same direction along the second transverse line of folding l2, as is illustrated in Figs. 2 5 inclusive. A staple 3B or other fastening may be employed to hold the two ply blade holding section in close proximity to the intermediate body portion I 8, thus forming an enclosure or sheath in which are received the blades. The body portions and cutting edges of the blades throughout part of their lengths are sheathed between the opposing surfaces of members I6 and 58 which as will be noted extend well beyond the blade edges at either side thereof. In the folded two-ply section of the strip described, the sequence of the blades has been reversed with blade 36, which appeared as the lowermost blade in Fig. 1, now becoming the uppermost blade. It will also be noted that as a result of doubling the member I6 over upon itself, blade 39 is caused to assume a position in which it projects forwardly the greatest distance with each successive underlying blade being stepped inwardly as suggested in Figs. 3, 4 and 5.

The cover member is obtained by bending the strip along transverse line of folding I4 and isadapted to be swung from the open position 4 shown in Figs. 3 and 4 into interlocking engagement with the blade holding section I6 to provide a closed pack as indicated in Fig. 2.

In closing the cover 20 the blades are flexed downwardly so that they are caused to lie against one another throughout a part of their lengths and are slightly arched, thus producing a light spring tension in the blades as long as the cover remains in a closed position. There is thus provided a substantially flat compact package having no substantial waste. This package may be effectively sealed against dampness and conveniently handled, shipped, stored and distributed as a self-contained, thoroughly protected unit.

' When] it is desired to remove a' blade'from the pacle, the cover is pulled back and the re-' siliently held blades immediately spring apart into an open divergent position, with the uppermost blade 30 projecting forwardly the greatest distance as a result of the stepped arrangement of the blades. In its forwardly projecting position, therefore, the uppermost blade 30 may be gripped between the thumb and finger with lessened danger of contacting the immediately underlying blade 28. At the same time the sheath portion may be gripped in the other hand of the operator, offering a convenient holding portion while the top blade is being detached and withdrawn.

Having thus disclosed my invention and de scribed in detail illustrative embodiments there-- of, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A package of individually unwrapped safety razor blades comprising a flat strip folded upon itself along three transverse lines of folding to provide a carrier element doubled over upon itself, an intermediate body portion and a cover, a series of blades sheathed between the doubled over carrier element and the intermediate body portion, the blades being detachably secured to an underlying surface of the carrier element, the uppermost blade in the series lying directly in contact with the carrier element and projecting outwardly from the fold vertex of the carrier the greatest distance with each successive underlying blade end being stepped inwardly.

2. A package of sharp unwrapped razor blades comprising a continuous strip folded transversely and providing a two-ply blade-carrying section and a connected cover section, a series of blades arranged in longitudinally stepped relation on the blade-carrying section, and a staple fastener clenched through one ply of said section and over one end of each blade with its clenched ends concealed between the plys of the blade carrying section while the blades are enclosed by the cover section.

JOSEPH MUROS.

' es ited in the me of h s p t n UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,588,923 Wells June 15, 1926 2,136,939 Currie Nov. 15, 1938 2,144,680 Huenegardt a- Jan. 24, 1939 2,346,564 Drullard Apr. 11. 1944 2,377,897, Monnet June 12, 1945 FOREIGN PATENT S- Number Country Date 471,914 Germany Apr. 7, 1927 536,754 Great Britain H May 26, 1941 

